Thursday, May 22, 2014

*I received this book as an eARC from Scholastic on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodreadsTitle: Everyday Angel #1: New BeginningsAuthor: Victoria SchwabPublication Date: May 27, 2014Synopsis: Meet a guardian angel like no other, from a writer like no other. Bold rising star, Victoria Schwab, makes her whimsical, inspiring, and clever middle-grade debut.At a first glance, Aria seems like your average twelve-year-old girl. She has coppery hair, colored shoelaces, and a passion for cupcakes. But there's more to Aria than meets the eye. She can dream things into existence, use her own shadow like a door, and change the world in small, important ways. Aria is a guardian angel. She's been sent here to earn her wings. But to do that, she'll have to help three different girls.Aria's first mission is Gabby Torres. Gabby's always been quiet, but ever since her brother got sick, she's barely said a word.When a new school offers her a fresh start, Gabby wants badly to be someone new, but she quickly learns it's hard to make friends while keeping half her life a secret.And then Aria shows up. Aria, who knows exactly what to say and do to make Gabby feel better. Will she be able to help Gabby find her voice? And will Gabby still trust Aria when she finds out exactly what she is?Think John Green for middle grade, with a touch of magic!Why?: I have loved everything that I've read from Victoria Schwab (which is basically everything she's published), so I was really excited to find out that she was writing a middle grade book about guardian angels! This book sounds different from any other guardian angel book I've seen, and I can't wait to read her take on them.Expectations: Even though this is her middle grade debut, I still have ridiculously high expectations for New Beginnings. I still expect the writing to be gorgeous and for this book to deal with really hard topics (especially for a younger audience). Also, I'm pretty sure there will be lots of life lessons inside.Judging a book by its cover: For what it is, I really like this cover. I like that the girls are nondescript and I like the colors. However, I do think that this cover is very girly and that many boys would avoid it based on that alone. Since I like it, I would probably pick it up off the shelf in a bookstore or library! --Ashley